Man sentenced to death over 1992 ritual murder

A Kano High Court, Tuesday, sentenced one Miko Umaru to death by hanging for allegedly beheading one Hauwa Alasan in 1992 for ritual purposes.

Presiding judge, Justice Nuradden Umar, in his verdict, held that the court was satisfied with the evidence brought against the accused person.

Umar ruled: “I have no discretion based on Section 221 of the Penal Code to commute the death sentence.

“I thereby sentence you, Miko to death by hanging. You shall be hanged until pronounced dead by the authority concerned.”

The judge further sentenced the accused to a five-year imprisonment on the second charge, in accordance with Section 219 of the Penal Code, pointing out that the convict, however, had the right to appeal if he was not satisfied with the judgment.

In the two-count charge, the convict, Miko, was said to have murdered Hauwa Alasan along with two other people, on February 23, 1992 on the outskirts of Kademi Village in Gaya Local Government Area of the state.

He was said to have strangled and beheaded his victim after hitting her on the head several times.